Monthly Archives: December 2015

Michael Edward McGovern‘s work calls upon the repetitive nature of printmaking and photography to create a network of reoccurring images that he can meditate on to help search for a truth. He uses a lexicon of images that relate to specific events in his history. Repeated images of bridges, birds, trains, war, masks, urban landscapes, and old family portraits find their way into his work lending themselves to an unfolding narrative. All these images carry a personal biography, but also carry the weight of their own metaphors helping to furnish an ever-growing personal narrative. “The environments and people that have surrounded my life inform the art I create. My work is about constructing autobiographical images that explore the ghosts and spirits of my past. I am interested in how both personal and cultural histories have profoundly affected my visual language. I compose memorials to the intangible memories of my past. By visually recording impressions of specific times, places, and events in my life, I am preserving memories that seem to fade with each passing year.”

Mike Wellins “Marooned” painted wood

Mike Wellins current show consists of pieces that are painted with acrylic and Gouache on laser cut wood panels. As a film and animation director, he works with imagery that has an underlying sense of story, and humor. “I try and create pieces and work that reward the observant viewers for noticing small details and symbolism, that might be missed at a casual glance. I also work on the idea of creating story elements that involve the viewer to decide on what the story is and what it means. My life long love of film and visual story telling also comes through in creating dimensional scenes and sets for these mysterious stories to live and to invite the viewer in. Mechanically, I also like the idea of going beyond the traditional framed art and try to create unique ways of framing artwork.”

Paul Trapp has based this series of works on the experience of seeing something recognizable and yet impossible at the same time. “On a calm fall day I saw a tree covered in red leaves. The interior of the tree appeared to be moving while the leaves remained still. Knowing trees cannot do that, I got closer and saw a flock of birds inside the tree moving but making no sound. That abnormal experience heightened my awareness of the tree and my surroundings.” His irregularly shaped paintings are of ordinary objects and places; however, his concern is for the extraordinary and different ways in which we experience objects in the world. By contrasting familiar objects with spacial anomalies his work raises questions concerning perception, memory, and imagination. These spacial anomalies are intended to activate a viewer’s perception, to create moments where the mind has to sort out what the eyes are seeing. “I believe when we see something inconsistent with reality we cease to be passive observers and begin to be active interpreters of our surroundings. Inconsistent moments help us remember that although objects and places may appear to be ordinary, they are not. Our experience of them can be unique, magical, and captivating.”

Fifteen years of Little Things!
The premise for this show is simple: We asked artists to submit work that would fit into an imaginary cube that is 7″ X 7″. (And that includes the frame or stand) No other limitations. Every year is a surprise, with new artists added each year. This show is the largest ever, with 53 artists.